Power pangs: More people taking refuge in malls, cars

Monsoons and power supply is inversely proportional to each other. With scarce rain this year, the claim of the Punjab government looks fictitious. People are harried lot and are spending powerless days and nights.

Monsoons and power supply is inversely proportional to each other. With scarce rain this year, the claim of the Punjab government looks fictitious. People are harried lot and are spending powerless days and nights. The unscheduled power cuts have made life hell as people can be seen fanning themselves sitting in their balconies in the thick of the night. So much so that even inverters are of little help as the power supply is not enough to recharge them fully.

Now, when the chairmancum-managing director (CMD) of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) KD Chaudhari has appealed to the people of Punjab to bear the power regulatory measures, people are taking refuge in malls, movie theatres and restaurants to avoid the power pangs.

More and more residents are going for the late night movie shows. “On Thursday night I went for a late night movie show with my friends and spent nearly comfortable four hours at the mall,” said Vishav, a resident of Dugri Phase-I.

People are even taking refuge in their cars, especially when their kids wake up at night during a power cut.

A resident of Sec 32 Chandigarh Road, Ravinder Singh, said, “The elders can bear the heat, but what about the kids. My kids started crying as the light went off late at the night. I took my kids and made them sleep in my car by turning the AC on.”

RESIDENTS PROTEST

Thursday night was a nightmare for nearly half of the city residents as the electricity was playing hide and seek in various areas, including Chandigarh Road to Dugri to Agar Nagar, Haibowal, Pakhowal Road and other parts.

Residents of Sector 32, Chandigarh Road, protested against the PSPCL authorities on Thursday night as they were forced to bear long unscheduled power cuts from last two days. When the residents reached the PSPCL focal point office to lodge a complaint, the employees didn’t pay any heed. The residents then jammed the main Chandigarh Road for nearly 15 minutes.

Tarlochan Singh, a resident, said, “PSPCL has made our lives hell. If they don’t have electricity, they can announce power cuts, so that we get prepared in advance. There was no power in the area more than 12 hours.”

The residents of Basant Vihar Colony, Jawaddi, were too without electricity from Thursday till the news report was filed on Friday evening. Because of overloading in area, transformers developed snags and thus the electricity supply got disrupted. Despite many complaints, nothing was done to restore the supply in area, said Amit Kumar, a resident.

Rashpal Singh, chief engineer, PSPCL, central zone, Ludhiana, said, “Because of high temperature and little rain, the gap in demand and supply has gone up and we have taken few measures in this regard. The household consumers can complain to the nodal complaint centres and their issues will be solved at the earliest.”